Hey guys,

I figured I would make a build here. I am very active on the facebook group and have received some great feedback and help from the guys over there. I will try and remeber to update this as I complete some work.

I'm in my late 20's and have wanted a 914 for a long while now. I've been through 11 or 12 VW's water and aircooled - Rabbits, Caddys, Beetle, etc... so it's natural progression I suppose.

I found this car in Louisville and towed it home last summer. A friend looked at it for me. Gave me the OK, said there was minor rust, but a solid project. I paid for the car, and drove out that weekend. Upon arrival I found there to be a pretty severe case of rust...

I stored the car the rest of the year - bit the bullet and decided to go to town on the structural repairs.
It is the color and the car I want. I work in fabrication by trade, so I am not too scared to take on this project.

I will not be driving the car until I feel it’s solid.
I am cutting some corners - depending on how you look at it. This is a budget build. But I will be using as many replacement parts (AA and RD) as I can. Without removing too much of the car.

Car:
12/70 vin. Added to database.
Off the road since 1998.
1.7 gunky motor.
Toasty interior.
70k miles shown, iirc. So probably 170k
Came with late style black adjustable seats.


Plan:
Fix structural rust so I can drive the car ASAP
I’d like to keep original paint (too late)
Fix as much rust as I can. (Hell hole, shelf, passenger long, floors)
Drop in replacement motor
Run new brake and fuel lines
5lug swap.
2.0 down the road?

So what's been accomplished? As of July/2020
Structural rust fully repaired.
Top end of 1911cc is done, bottom end in the works.
5 Lug swap
Replaced all interior components.
Tail and window rust, outer body rust
Side markers deleted.
924 Retractable seat belts.
Drank sh*tload of beer.
Spent a good deal of cash.
tons of other little things. So much stuff!


This will be a cars and coffee cruiser, not a concour restoration (sorry!)

I just want to drive MY 914!

The car as I found it:








Quick Buff:

Looking forward to seeing the progress on your project.

Pretty car. Now, let's see the ugly pictures!

As requested, as for the ugly...

Welcome to the World!!!

As you know, there's a wealth of information here. That's a rusty car but many have started with worse. You've got a leg up, being able to fab. Can't wait to see progress pics!

My dad and I picked up a running 1.7 for next to nothing. Will get me on the road faster..

Pulled the old motor:

Got a steal on some new floors - $200 for the pair original parts:


More metal:

Fabbed up a quick fix to the trunk pull (it wasn't attached and rusted through)

Great color and a good project.

Before you put that motor in you may want to check all of the suspension mounting points and the hell hole (area below the factor battery location). Repairs are easier to handle with no engine/transaxle installed.

Of course you may as well replace the fuel lines in the tunnel if they are still plastic and upgrade to the stainless steel from Tangerine Racing or others. Pull the fuel tank and have that boiled out and perhaps coated and replace the remaining rubber fuel lines. Clean all of the body grounds on the car. Then rebuild the brakes calipers, replace the flexible lines and flush the entire system. That should keep you bust for a bit.

These cars are a blast to drive but we always want to make sure the car itself is safe to dive as they are now 50 years old.

Good luck,
Michael

Sandblasted the J pipe:








Made some seatbelt bungs on the lathe at work:



Got the inner long in good order. I used silver POR15 in the inner wheel house:

Looks like a lot of work Glad you have some some help.
Looking forward to the progress!

Welcome! Good start, will be watching with interest.

Thanks for the good tips. I would say I am well versed in the lingo and parts of these cars - I’ve been lurking you guys for 5+ years. I will be running all new fuel lines, fixing the hell hole, 5 lug swap (new brakes) etc.

Rolling Rock and Irish green. Good Choice!

Hey guys,

Another little update. Trying to tackle the front section of the long, before the door. Tricky little spot. Soft area in the wheel well. I ground this away to reveal a nice 3" hole.





Making a template with a Coors Banquet box. Good for more than a cool buzz.



Cut and bent



Welded and smoothed with a shot of primer.


Reasonable fit, will need some tweaking and 20 more minutes of grinding welds.


Looking down the long. I think I can do a little better than that, so I will make some adjustments to get it a little closer along these red sketches...
I wish I had the AMADA brakes I use at work to bend these parts.

Quickie test fit of the outer clamshell. I wanted to check how far off I am with the lower part of my fabbed long... Close! but more tweaking.

This is a motivating sight!



Recreating this rear piece. I used my rusty cut out as a template.
This will be dual layer 16g nice and beefy.



I will not be recreating the jack pyramid area. I have purchased Brad's 914LTD stiffening kit - which deletes the factory pyramid. (not my photo, but this kit:)



I know it might be unnecessary for - not a racecar - but with the rust this car has... it cant hurt to stiffen the car up and keep it solid.

I am blind and missed a chunk on the bottom. Its ok to make things twice sometimes to get it right.



Just a nice photo before I pulled the car in:

Great skills and work levels

Here's a list of some of the other things I have accomplished and compiled over the last few months.

Installed ignition switch (early solder in style) and Ign key.

Got some new interior bits from a nice guy about an hour away for a great price:


Also a new left tail light, and a much needed rear bumper I found on craigslist in PA for $100:



My factory bumper was taco'd and dimpled:



The 914 also had what i would call the WORST dash I have ever seen. Looked like it sat on a grille at a BBQ joint for half a year - found a new one on the forums here for $200:



Shot of my work space. Not much but fits a 914.

Not related to fixing the car... but part of the bigger picture.
Sometimes you need to buy yourself somethin nice!

Picked up a set of 14" Fuchs for a great deal, due to the ugly finish. Two '69 dates and two '70 dates. Lets see if I can clean em up.




Sprayed some Jascos. 15 minutes of sitting.







Damn!



I would say that the spray bomb job preserved this original finish. Good drivers quality. Really feel like I lucked out here. I'll do the other 3 this evening.... then back to welding!

Jared, you have mad skills. My hat is off to you and I wish I had the eye you have when I was your age. Heck, I'd like to have that eye right now. Good work and keep it up.

Thanks much!! I wouldn't say 'mad skills.' Just not afraid to try and make mistakes... There's always beer in the fridge, if something goes wrong.

I grew up in NoVa. Where abouts are you?

Wow... nice job so far. Keep it up!!!

Something else I completed.

The frunk handle was not very functional, as you'd imagine with a hole like this.



I hammer formed this out of 22g. Weird place to weld, especially from the inside.



The sheath (?) for the pull handle had stubs of the bolts rusted to it.



Ground off. Got one bolt stub out with vicegrips. The other was stuck, so I welded a nut to it and she turned right out.



Sand blasted, chased the threads and painted at work. Added new hardware.
Need to do the same for the handle





I'm happy with the result, everything works now. Could be prettier, but its very hidden and will (hopefully) be covered in paint someday.

Thank you! The responses I've received here and on the FB group have been very motivating. I figured I'd get a little bit more negative feedback - for not going by the book, and my 'DIY' with all of these harbor freight electric tools.

Nice job on the handle patch I think that was probably the hardest patch I had to do on my whole car. Like you said, not an easy place to weld... And I did mine while my floor was off which eased the pain at least a little.

I did mine while my rib cage was leaning over the turnbuckle supports I made.

Thanks for the insight. By the way, I have your Rustoration thread bookmarked and refer to it before I fab any parts for this build/save! I really look up to your skills!

Hey Jared, I'm not up in NOVA. I hang my hat in Williamsburg, a short drive from Va Beach and Norfolk. Being in Baltimore, you should make you way to Hershey. Should it occur...…...

Thats very nice work, great speed, will watch this with interest!

Nice! I went to VCU, so I am totally familiar with Williamsburg and it's ghost tours, haha! I went to Hershey last year and stocked up on a few parts for my would be 914, that i purchased a few months later.

Keep up the good work--and the optimism. That's the best way to deal with the endless 914 rust surprises.

Thank you! There's always more...

A little work today. Finishing up the floor seam in the engine bay. Chipped away at eh crusty sealer and ground until I saw fresh metal.



Barf.



After filling the flange tabs with some weld, grinding to some extent, tacking in the J pipe, top and bottom, and a shot of filler primer. Seam seal the gaps. A little less sealer than the factory used.



Fabbed up a quick and dirty pipe tab. Mine was toasted. Not too concerned with making this pretty - just needs to be strong. We'll never see it again. Right?
... Right?



NICE to see a whole fresh inner long! Plenty of room to mount a floor:



Test fit of the tube. I cleaned it out the best I could and sprayed some primer on the outside - to make it look a little cleaner. I need to take it out and rivet or weld the C clamps in place. Ran outta gas!






Next on the list is the hell hole patches, then the sections at the rear of this long, clamshell, etc.
Awaiting a Sill and Jack triangle from Auto Atlanta.



Jared

This seems to be a rather odd place to find such extensive rust? Well done repair job!

Actually very common. Dirt, debris, mouse nests, etc. collect in the metal recess above the pull and holds in the moisture that seeps into the cowl.

I like how you lit up your garage.

I'm sure pulling on the trunk handle adds just the right amount of pressure to pull the rusty steel right through as well.

I love the lights too! I added one hanging LED light from Walmart ($20) right above the engine bay. Very helpful.

I didn't get a ton done today, but I formed the piece above the rear long. Weird shape, still needs some work.



Got a new Sill in from Auto Atlanta... Ordered Friday, arrived Sunday, cant beat it.



Cleaned up the rest of the Fuchs. I'll be doing the windows black, at some point. These are 14x5.5. Not a priority right now. But couldn't pass up the 2010 pricing on the set of 4.



More test fitting. All three of these pieces are just clamped on. The clamshell will be under the rear piece before welding.





That's all for today. Thanks for anyone taking the time to read, and the support everyone's offered for this build.



P.S. Saying "build" is funny because I used to feel like putting BBS wheels, carpet and a H&R Cupkit on a Mk1 Rabbit was a build... How things have changed.

Nice work—great to see someone in their 20s working on one of these (said as someone who is still working on one 30 years later...after starting in his teens... ).

Those Fuchs were a great score—there's something about Fuchs without black backgrounds that works. They'd look great on your car, or you can generate additional project funds if you choose to resell that set as-is or properly repainted—as a 914-6 or 911E owner might want correct 14s. Meanwhile, 15x6s or 16x6s are where the good tires are at. What rear tire size are you on? They look beefy...

Cheers! Not a bad tip. I think I would like 15x7 better, plenty of good tire options there. Wasn't trying to spend $1500+ right now on them though

The tires I have on these 15s are 195/65. Which is similar to what I'd run on the 14x5.5s I believe that is near stock size, but a hair shorter.

Hey all,

Hope everyone is doing OK with this Covid virus going around.

Here are a few updates from the past couple days. Firewall and the all mighty Hell Hole! I have been dreading this. You guys have conditioned me to hate it! Maybe it wont be so bad....


Upper firewall rust is cut out.



Needs some more grinding. Right side looks decent.



Cleaned and primed. Nice.



This piece will serve as the wall and base to weld the lower Hell Hole patches in place.

This is what I was working with.... Yikes. Lets cut some more away.





Engine shelf removed. What was left of it anyways.



"Lets form some new metal." - Probably Bob Ross



This is all 16 gauge. I bent the large shapes over my thigh, tack welded a few spots and hammer formed to get the fit better.



Grind for 1 hour. Prep with Metal Ready. This is how it looks after:



Self etch primer, and some filler primer on top. This is the result:



I got a little "trigger happy" and sprayed some primer over all the fresh metal, not thinking that I still need to weld (and purchase) the engine shelf.
Regardless.... There have been prettier repairs, but its a good deal better than no metal there at all!

There is still a hole and thin area that needs patched (lower right of the last photo)

Question: Would you guys recommend a skim layer of body filler to smooth the gaps out on the hell hole? I have never used the stuff before, but I'd like to finish with a nice repair.

Overall the hell hole wasn't the worst thing ever. Would not look forward to doing it again though. I have about 6 hours straight into the repair. What a pain in the butt it is getting in and out of there. 28 is too young for my knees to feel like this.




Thanks for reading!

Wow, I just noticed this thread. You're doing great work, and your fabrication skills are excellent. I found that to be a HUGE asset (or in my case mostly, a liability) in terms of repair. Great welding can't makeup for crappy fab skills. The 16 ga will hold up nicely.

I suppose you could body filler on the hell hole there if you want it to look nicer, or, if later, you don't want it too obvious that it was repaired. But I don't think there's any "dishonor" in that repair, and in fact it is evidence of all the good work you did/are doing. OTOH, you're most interested in driving this thing

I spent last 25 years (or so) in NoVA, but just relocated mostly to Easton in the last year. My daughter went to VCU (probably a year or two behind you), and my wife is from Stoneleigh. The neighborhood and garage pics remind me a bit of her old house. (EDIT: Forgot to add that her dad let me store an old MGB in their garage that was similar, but smaller. I did an engine rebuild and some other work on it out of that garage while stationed at Aberdeen. Brings back memories.)

Lastly, I've got an Irish Green '72 (that became something like guards red at some point) and a '75 that I'm stalled on. It was in similar shape to yours, and I made a lot of progress and then hit a wall for a while. Last week with help I managed to get it to Easton, so maybe I can again!

Good luck -- maybe we can catch up at some point.

Instead of body filler, I would spend a little more time with the grinder to smooth out the rough spots.

Nice work! It isn't a bad idea to put a skim of fiber reinforced filler over the welds anyway just to make sure all pinholes are filled and eliminate depressions that could trap moisture. @mb911 pointed me to Evercoat Fiber Tech and I really liked it.

So many similarities! Thank you for the kind words. We can certainly link up at some point. I know there's a good few shows and cruise ins over the bridge.

I bought filler today, and will experiment a bit this weekend. I'll need some regardless on a few sections of the car. I might attempt some more sanding to smooth this area out for now.




Good plan. I will get get back in there with a fresh set of eyes, when it comes time to mount the battery tray.




I appreciate the link and plan to pick some up. There's plenty of other spots on this '71 that needs attention.



Thanks for the recommendations, guys. After looking at the hell hole repair a new day, without dust in my eyes, I could do a little better - if I rush just a bit less.
Happy Friday.

Just to be clear. I agree with Rob there is no shame at all in the repair you have done. When you go back to grinding, just make sure you are grinding only the weld and not the surrounding parent material. You can grind just about any weld to invisibly smooth if you don't mind thinning the metal to become foil. Obviously not good. Better to live with a bit of weld shrinkage and have it strong than pretty and weak. Finding that balance was one of the trickier parts for me.

Posted and forgot to add the work I accomplished today.

I fit these two panels today. I had to modify them a hair, but over all they fit nice.
I traced these shapes off of the pieces I cut out. Pretty cut and dry - or... weld.

In progress. Ignore the bacon welds.




A lot of the same sounds echoing from the garage this week... I'm glad I bought ear muffs.



Mimicked the spot welds on the bottom. Light coat of SE primer.

I will need to fill in another spot or two, and figure out the transition to the outer clamshell.



I have to say I am really proud of how this looks... If you scroll back to the first photos, there was not a lot of meat here!

Factory shape looks pretty close. As a reminder, I am not using the factory jack pyramid (I will be using Brads Meyer's stiffening kit) so this section was left flat.

Dual wall 16g, pain in the D to form.



DANG! Nice. Fits up pretty well with the outer clamshell. took a mallet hit or two.
I drilled these holes for the spot welds last night, made a few trims - But it sandwiches nicely in between the dual wall.

Lastly. The girl and I started taping off my Fuchs - for the semi gloss windows. Just like the car... time consuming but worth it for the outcome.



P.S. Here is my cat, Oatmeal, in case anyone needed to see this today.

Much appreciated. I dealt with that on the inside of the long. Grind long enough and you can see the weld curling away, while a new hole gets bigger. Certainly has been tough finding the balance. Thanks B!

Weekend update:

Part 1:

Decided to go at the hole on the Lower front PS fender. This will be my first time ever using body filler. I have nothing but time on my hands today. So I am ready to sand. Nice little spot to try this out.

Here's the play by play....Cut out:



Trace the shape of the piece you need. This time I used a Yuengling box for a template. The cardboard you use all depends on your beer preference that day.



Looks good to me.



Weld, grind, "smooth".



Body filler:



Then you realize you still have the negative stripe vinyl beneath that tape. Grind that off, rather unevenly. Apply another skim of body filler.

Sand for like 40 minutes.



Voila! I am pretty proud of this! Not horrible for a first time at "body work". Certainly time consuming...

I see a couple dings left. Honestly, I think that's an OK thing - or this fender might stand out like a sore thumb, as compared to the rest of the car. As of right now I am not going for a perfect resto. This will be as original paint as possible.


Gives me a bit of hope for down the road when I take it a step further, with a respray and such.





Part 2:

I spot welded the outer clamshell in place. This feels great and is so satisfying to see. Weld one, move a foot over, weld another, let cool, repeat.



Still have a bit of grinding and smoothing to do. A theme for this project...

Now for the big test. Does this door still fit?

BOOM!



Door gap looks pretty damn good and she closes like a German bank vault! Lots accomplished in the last few days, and a lot of stuff checked off the whitebaord list.

Whats next:
Door jamb, and body section.
Door sill
Drop floors
Stiffening kit.
Battery box, etc.

Not really in a particular order.

Thanks for reading and wash your hands.
Jared

Pure inspiration!!! I love watching this... and look at those gaps.

Great work! And loving Oatmeal!!

Thanks guys!

Sunday project. My girlfriend and I spent the morning finishing up taping off my fuchs wheels for restoration. Took a while!



Scuff, Prime 2 coats, Semi Gloss black 3 coats, Matte clear over top.





1 bolt holding it on for the photo (still 4 lug) Just had to see.





I am so happy about these.

They are going to look great on here one day. Not a bad tidy up for a $700 set of fuchs!

Those Fuchs look great. What did you do to the petals? Just matte clear?

Thanks, they are the raw finish - I believe its factory anodize. I just cleaned them up and cleared right over them. We'll see how it holds up?

Great work Jared! Love watching your car progress and glad to see that spare metal sitting in the garage being put to good use.